Well the slight change in wind-direction to SE over night certainly did the trick. No scarcities pulled out of the bag but a definite increase in activity was headlined by 5+ Pied Flycatchers, perhaps my best ever August count at the patch, with 3 in the Forestry and 2+ in the west end of the pines. Always smart birds but they don't particularly like to pose at close range!
Otherwise migrants were perhaps surprisingly thin on the ground, with a small scattering of warblers including 1 Grasshopper Warbler flushed in the Forestry, 5 Willow Warblers, 7 Lesser Whitethroats, 2 Garden Warblers and 3 Whitethroats. A trickle of Swallows west numbered 56 by the end of the day and a Greenshank flew east calling. Moths in the traps included singles of Rush Veneer and Diamond-back Moth, both immigrants.
Bottom two pictures © Ray Roche.
